What Your Remote Employees Can do to Protect Your Network

Posted on by Alex Mitchell
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6 Tips for Remote Employees

Thanks to increased use of technology in work, it has enabled a lot of persons to work less and less from the office. What this means is that we now have more persons working from the comfort of their homes, a coffee shop, hotel or some other remote location of their choosing.

Despite the many advantages of having employees work remotely, these advantages come at a cost, usually, in the form of data security. Normally, having your employees work in a traditional office space means you can monitor what comes in and goes out of your company’s network – the IT team can catch viruses early, password changes can be forced upon employees using auto-reminders, and regular security checks means you catch issues early and deal with them.

This ability to work from anywhere gives employees the needed flexibility, and for the employers, it means they can enjoy the services of talents from around the world without having to worry about the overhead occasioned from staffing.

However, with remote employees, you lose all of this control, and it leaves your network open to virus attacks, cyber leaks and all other forms of cyber threats. When things like this happen, financial, legal and reputational problems may result. Therefore, you need to have a system in place to protect your network when you have employees working remotely. You employees should follow the things below to protect your network.

• PROTECT THEIR DEVICES AT ALL TIMES

Often, most data-stealing malware that affects devices arrive via the web or email and to reduce the chances of a security breach you have to restrict access to personal web browsing and email. However, enforcing this is costly and can be difficult. Therefore, to protect your network, you have to ensure your employees use the latest versions of all applications and install security patches as soon as they are released. You can also manage things from your end by activating automatic updates from software makers.

• LIMIT THE USE OF PUBLIC WI-FI

Internet on public Wi-Fi is provided from unknown servers, and this means security is not guaranteed. This makes the network susceptible to hackers since anyone can access it; therefore, you should have a standing order which forbids your employees from sending or receiving sensitive information over public Wi-Fi. As with public Wi-Fi, so too is cyber café, your employees should not conduct company business with them.

• EMPLOY CLOUD SERVICES

By employing cloud-based applications in your office tasks, it allows your employees to work from any location and transfers the burden of managing data security to the cloud service providers who usually are more equipped to handle it.

The cloud-based service provider gives you safe virtual storage and working space while your employees manage passwords. You should ensure your employees use strong passwords as this helps keep data secure. In fact, you can employ cloud applications to secure employees access to the web, and there are quite a number of companies which offer these services.

• LIMIT THE USE OF EXTERNAL STORAGE DEVICES

External storage devices like USBs can easily be misplaced so your remote employees should restrict their use and if they must be used to house only non-sensitive information.

Beyond this, USB devices can be used by hackers to install malware on your computer so your remote employees should avoid using a friend or stranger’s USB on their laptop.

• GET EDUCATION ON SECURITY TRAINING

Some companies may be tempted to give employees the benefit of the doubt by assuming they know how to manage security. However, this should not be the case as employees should be mandated to take up basic security courses which would teach them how to handle suspicious emails and links and to understand what a secure password should be like. It is important employees understand that work computers are for the company and not for personal use, therefore, should be treated as such.

• INSTALL ENCRYPTION SOFTWARE

Lost and stolen devices can pose a source of danger in the wrong hands, but you can lessen this risk with encryption software which bars unauthorized users from accessing the device.

Also, you can install remote wipes on your devices so data on them can be erased in case they go missing.

In conclusion, although remote workers can save the company money in terms of expenditure on overhead, they can also pose a risk to the firm especially if they use office devices for personal use. Therefore as a company, you have to put measures in place to handle staff remotely while remote workers should do their bit in adhering with safety measures.

Case Study: Android Outlook USB Sync causing Windows Sockets Error

Posted on by Wayland Bruns
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A customer contacted us this week who had been using a competing Android Outlook Sync product. A Windows Update caused the sync to fail with a Windows Sockets error.

We recommended CompanionLink for Outlook, which can synchronize directly from Outlook to Android using a USB Cable. There are a number of Outlook Android sync products, but only a few companies will handle it like old Palm Hotsync from PC to Phone using a USB cable.

The customer was in a hurry, having already spent hours on the problem. So we recommended our RunStart service. With this service a technician logs into the computer to set up the software. The sync needs to match up the Contacts and Calendar items that are already on the phone, so it is helpful for an experienced technician to watch for any problems with duplicate data.

It is not uncommon to see duplicate data when switching from one sync product to another. The reason is that your data is already on both sides of the sync. So if there is any formatting changes, a computer product may not recognize similar contact and calendar data. CompanionLink 8 contains a dedupe utility that can quickly clear duplicates from Outlook and your Phone. There is no extra charge for this function.

CompanionLink offers a competitive upgrade for anyone who has purchased a product from one of our competitors. You can purchase the “Upgrade” price, even if you are buying from CompanionLink for the first time. Here is a link for a Competitive Upgrade to CompanionLink for Outlook.

Here is a link with added RunStart service, and an additional $10 off your purchase – total $78.95. With this service, you will be on a fresh new solution in just a few minutes, and ready to carry on your normal day’s business.

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WSJ Shockingly Good Phone article features Nokia 7.1

Posted on by Wayland Bruns
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The Wall Street Journal published a great article this week called: Shockingly Good Smartphones You Can Get for $350 or Less (WSJ -Paywall).

It makes a point that we tend to think of first-run phones as being $1000. But that there is a variety of Mid-Priced phones that are pretty effective.

The main recommendation is Nokia 7.1 which happens to be one of my favorite phones. As the Article points out, it is a good modern phone running Android Oreo 8.1, with a nice screen, good camera and is pretty free of the bloatware that comes on Android devices.

The other featured phones in the article are the Lenovo Moto G7, and the Xiaomi Pocophone F1.

For all the mid-range phones, you can download DejaOffice from the Android App Store, and easily set up CompanionLink for Outlook to synchronize Outlook to the phone. DejaOffice for Android features widgets for the Android home screen to show your calendar, Category colors on Calendar, and integrated Tasks and Contacts so your whole work desktop is in one place on your phone.

It’s great to see Nokia is back to making great main stream phones again!

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Fabulous Ways to Make Money from Your Smartphone

Posted on by James Hunt
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These days people are looking for more convenience as well as plenty more choice when it comes to improving their financial situation. A lot of people are utilising technology in a bid to make money, and there are plenty of side gigs that can be enjoyed in this sense as well. Making money from your smartphone is something that is becoming more and more a reality, and you need to look at what you can do to embrace this.

It is essential that you look at the different avenues available in this regard, and this is something that you need to make sure you get right immediately. There are a lot of different ways in which you can make money using your smartphone, and this is something you need to keep in mind right now – check out these examples to help get you started today.

Day Trading

If you feel like you have a good understanding of the stock market, you might like to consider something like day trading. This is an option that is readily accessible from your phone, but you need to be careful because this can be very volatile, and there is a chance you could lose a lot of money. If you are a skilled day trader, and you set yourself limits, then this is a good way for you to make money using your smartphone.

Business Apps

There are plenty of business apps you can use for your smartphone that will help you to run your company more effectively. In the modern world, running a business has become a popular choice, and this is something you should look into. What better way to make money than by running your own business right now? Make use of the right apps in order to help you make the best possible choice when it comes to making money using your phone.

Surveys

Surveys rank among the best money making apps out there, and they are a great way of generating some extra cash without having to spend a lot of money or work very hard. Sure, you’re not going to earn megabucks by doing this, but you will be able to supplement your earnings with a bit of additional cash, and it’s a pretty easy way of making money as well.

Gaming

There are plenty of things you can do with your smartphone that will help you to earn more money, and gaming is one of the best. Make sure you do as much as possible to understand what it takes to make money from gaming. If you can get this right, you should have no problems being able to earn while you play, and do so on the move as well.

These are just a few of the fabulous tips you need to consider when you are looking at the best ways of making extra money when you use your smartphone. There is a lot that you can do in this regard, and it makes sense to embrace this wherever you can. Have a look at the different ideas and try to use them to get the best out of your phone, and start making more casin in the process.

Case Study: Migrate from Microsoft BCM to DejaOffice PC CRM for Outlook

Posted on by Wayland Bruns
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Recently we were approached by a customer who used to use BCM, and wanted a solution that worked with Office 365.

The customer had used Microsoft Business Contact Manager from 2013 to 2018. They had Contacts, Accounts and Communication History. This customer had tried a migration tool to move BCM contacts to Office 365 contacts. This tool was not successful. (CompanionLink Professional can move BCM Contacts to Outlook contacts using a folder-to-folder sync.)

At the time the customer contacted us, they had not used BCM for many months. So the BCM database was out of date.

Our new product DejaOffice PC CRM for Outlook adds certain CRM functions to Office 365 Outlook (Outlook 2019). Among these functions are History Also, DejaOffice can import from older CRM systems like Microsoft BCM which was discontinued in 2016.

The customer also purchased Premium Support, which is a service where our technician could log into his computer and set everything up.

What we did was Sync the old BCM database to DejaCloud. We moved the Accounts, Contacts and Communication History. Then on the new computer, the customer installed DejaOffice PC CRM for Outlook. In addition, the customer uses a Mobile Phone and DejaOffice has the complete database there also.

The entire operation of moving the old database to DejaCloud, and sync to the new PC took our technician about 30 minutes. Most of this time was checking the data each step of the way. The actual sync time was about five minutes for both sync phases.

Now, the customer can make a new contact from an Outlook email. When they look up a Contacts, they an see the communications history imported from the old PC. And they have Caller ID and History on their Phone.

Here is a link to order this same service – DejaOffice PC CRM for Outlook along with Premium installation and one year of support. Give us a call at (503)243-3400 to schedule an installation or talk about your needs.

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7 Best Android Learning Apps

Posted on by Sabrina Goldstein
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As your child grows, they’ll need your help in school less. Part of this is from independence and learning more. The other part is knowing where to find high school and college homework help. One useful tool for students is learning apps, which focus on teaching them how to do problems instead of just providing answers. Here are seven of the best apps for Android users. These are perfect for students, as well as adult learners who want to refresh on something or learn something new.

1. Khan’s Academy

Khan’s Academy has versions for children and adults. It has over 10,000 lessons and is completely free to use. Many of its subjects are more common, which is great for struggling students or adults who want to brush up on lessons. Some of the areas it covers include math, science, physics, English, economics, and others.

2. DuoLingo

DuoLingo is perfect for anyone trying to learn a second (or third) language. The app is full of fun games that make learning vocabulary easy and enjoyable. According to the designers, spending 34 hours on this app teaches as much as a semester in school. Currently, there are over a dozen languages offered such as Spanish, German, Chinese, Japanese, and French.

3. Amazon Kindle

Amazon Kindle is not just for entertainment reading. It is also full of reference guides and books on any topic students can think of. This can be useful if they are researching a topic or need extra information on a subject. As an added benefit, students can buy textbooks. This means they do not have to lug their book home every night.

4. Coursera

Coursera is its own online school. It is best for older students who need extra help or adult learners. There are more than 1,000 different courses available, each of them with video content, access to reading material, and lectures. At the end of each course, a certificate of completion is given to students.

5.  PhotoMath

PhotoMath works with your phone’s camera. It is useful for students or parents. Simply take a picture of the problem and wait for the explanation and answer. The major benefit comes from the explanation since it walks students through the steps toward a solution.

6. Wolfram Alpha

This is a more advanced app that might benefit high school or college students. It can be used for all types of information and works as a calculator. Some subjects covered include data analysis, physics, mathematics, engineering, geography, weather, astronomy, and more.

7. LinkedIn Learning

While this will not help the average student, this is a great app for adult professional learning. It is free to use and covers job skills. This could even benefit students considering their first job. Some topics covered include office skills and creative skills.

Parents and tutors are not students’ only options for assignment help. Learning apps for Android users are a great alternative for help. The best apps will guide students in finding the answer rather than doing the work for them. This ensures they are prepared come test time while providing the extra help they need to succeed.

DejaOffice responds to Google Disruption

Posted on by Wayland Bruns
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The high tech keyword for our century is Disruption.  Investors seek disruptive partners.

Disruption means an innovative company enters a stable market environment, generally with a low cost service, and knocks the current players out of the market by providing lower prices and better service. In this sense, Google has been disruptive to the Search Engine industry by providing a fast effective tool without visible advertising.  They have also disrupted the Cell Phone OS market, the Internet Browser market, and the Online News market. They have captured a firm lead in all these areas.

There is a second aspect to disruption that investors seek.  Once a company gains ascendancy over the competition, the disruptive company raises their prices to consumers so that the disruptive company becomes highly profitable. Consumers end up being worse off than they were before.

With Google, the profit motive appears to increasingly be made by isolated Silicon Valley based executives, with little feel for how they play out in the real world.  It is a sad truth that where Google once stood for innovation and low cost development tools, now they are nearly a constant headache to fend off their mistaken motivations and increasing prices.

Google Calendar API – Batch Endpoints Change

In March 2018, Google Announced that their Batch Endpoint for many API commands was changing.  The current API URL is to be deprecated March 25th 2019.  Somehow, Google figures that every customer with an API dependent software tool created before March 2018 will update their tool within this year grace period.  Clearly Google Management has no idea how long software cycles are.  We still have customers using Windows XP!  No one likes to change software versions.  More information is available here: https://www.companionlink.com/support/google-batch-endpoint-advisory.html

Google Geocoding API – Whopping Price Increase

In June 2018, Google announced that their website Geocode API was going to increase their pricing.  Geocoding is what is used when we look up an address, and replace it with a Logitude/Latitude value for map purposes.  Google Geocoding also includes location pictures and mini-map.  We use this in DejaOffice for iPhone, DejaOffice for Android and DejaOffice on the PC.

The price for a basic lookup changed from $0.005 per lookup to $0.02 per lookup.  What this means for DejaOffice is that our service in map lookups changed from being under $100, to suddenly becoming a $2000 per month bill.  This is for a free APP on the App store!  We quickly changed our Android and IPhone map lookups to the new Mobile Maps API, which was suggested by Google as an alternative. Customers saw this change go into place in November, and it seems to be a good drop-in replacement.

Google Geocoding API – Whopping Price Increase – Redux

So in February, Google announces that they “improved” the Mobile Maps API.  We have a six month window to switch to the improved version.  The improved version will change $0.02 per lookup.  Just Wow!

First we have a required App change, and second, we get our $2000 bill back.

So in DejaOffice you can count on mapping changes again in the next four months.  It is likely we will add an in-app tool to add funds for people who use a lot of mapping features.  Also we will be adding more location info to our sync, so once you map a contact or calendar event, you do not have to look it up again, thus avoiding a chargeable item.  Isn’t Disruption fun!

Google READ_SMS and READ_CALL_LOG Permissions

In November 2018, Google informed us that they would be removing all apps that used READ_SMS permission on Android.  In DejaOffice, we use these to add SMS text to Contact History.  We also use READ_CALL_LOG to add call followup information, and DejaOffice Caller ID.

Google’s handling of this issue is largely machine based, and heavy handed.  We have requested an exception.  However, DejaOffice does not fit into their set list of apps that are allowed these permissions.  They will remove DejaOffice from the App store if we do not remove these capabilities from the App.  We have applied twice, but can’t get by their machine blocker (probably named HAL – Open the Bay Door, Hal!)

So in February 2019, we have been forced to remove a number of DejaOffice features from our Android product:

  1. Read SMS Text to Contact History
  2. Identify incoming calls using DejaOffice Contact list
  3. Follow up on inbound calls to add a Contact History item

We are seeking another external tool, maybe Whatsapp, which may allow us to restore this functionality through that tool.  But obviously, Google Android is wanting to limit our access, and cannot be flexible because an innovative product does not fit their rigid expectations.

Google is a great technology partner.  But these moves show they clearly are going the path of IBM, then Microsoft, then Apple, then Google.  An innovative Disruptor, upon market dominance, becomes an intractable barrier to innovation.

10 Ways to Secure Your Information Across Your Devices Online

Posted on by Christopher Nichols
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The digital revolution has brought great advances in public access to information. Before the internet, you needed a set of encyclopedias or a visit to the library to find things out. Now, almost any information you desire is at your fingertips, on the computer. But the same technology that permits information access online makes us vulnerable to invasion by others seeking valuable information or resources from us. So it is vital in this digital age to take strong steps to protect yourself and devices.

Here are 10 ways to secure your information across your devices online:

1. Pick Strong Passwords

This is the obvious one, but you’d be amazed how many people choose simple passwords that are easy for sophisticated hackers to hack. Algorithms can go through millions of simple possibilities in seconds. A good password should contain/include alphabetical, symbolic, and numeric characters. It should be of sufficient length, 10-12 characters, and not contain obvious names or words. Acronyms make good passwords because they are easy to remember, yet do not present discernible patterns for hackers. Also, obviously your passwords across different apps should be different, not the same.

2. Protect Your Passwords

They are the keys to your digital kingdom! Do not give your passwords to others. Password manager apps are one great answer for those who have many passwords. If you do use a password manager app, make sure their reputation is excellent and security strong. After all, someone who gains access to that information will pretty much gain access to all that you own, in one form or another. Change your passwords when notified of any security breach

3. Maintain Separate User and Admin Accounts

Maintaining separate user and admin accounts is a common, almost universal, practice in business settings these days. It is a good idea for your home devices as well. Protect your admin account with a password. Use this account only for admin purposes. If your computer is hacked, the hacker will not automatically have access to make administrative changes. It also makes sense to protect your user account with a password. If your computer is stolen, the thief will need to know the password to immediately access any information you keep on file.

4. Keep Software Current

This is done automatically, in large part, these days on many computers. If you don’t have your computer set up to automatically update at specified times, do so. Many updates are security fixes to combat vulnerabilities in programs. There is a continuous race between developers and hackers who wish to exploit these vulnerabilities. If you are not updating, hackers can easily win this race! Back up your files. It is also a good idea to back up all vital information on two flash drives. Store one and keep the other with you when you go places. In the unlikely event of some kind of disaster (fire, hurricane, theft, etc.) you will maintain your vital information.

5. Connect With Care

Connect only to secure sites. Do not use public Wi-Fi to conduct personal or business affairs. If you must connect to sites where security is questionable, use a strong Virtual Private Network (VPN) like Surfshark. Try it here.

6. Practice Multi-Factor Authentication

Two-factor, or multi-factor, authentication is the use of more than one form of identity verification to gain site access. Passwords are one method. Security questions are another often-used form of authentication. But many times the information commonly used is easily available to identity thieves as well. So, if you are going to use a security question, make sure the information is personal and truly private. Biometrics is another method growing in sophistication and popularity. Facial recognition or iris identification should someday be the norm in all computers. Fingerprints or voice identification are other good examples. Biometrics authentication is the future state of the art, although all methods still face challenges. Some devices have biometric capability now. Passwords will become a thing of the past, although they’re still vital currently! Setting alerts on your online accounts is another good practice.

7. Use Caution with Emails

One of the most common security breaches comes from replying to or opening links in fraudulent emails. This is commonly known as phishing. Never open a link in an email unless you are absolutely certain it is from a trusted source. Don’t even open it then. A common hacker practice is to gain entrance to one account and use that account to send phony messages to all contacts, with requests for money or information. Phishing emails have led to many notorious security breaches. Think of the 2016 elections, when a phishing email led to the massive DNC security breach.

8. Use a Good Security App

This is just good common sense. In this day and age, a good security app is a must. Many decent apps are free, but this is one area where it likely pays to pay. Consumer advocate sites rate the top security apps each year. If you don’t have one, hurry to check these ratings out, then purchase a good app. Visit at least 2 or 3 sites to get a consensus. Then check customer reviews as well.

9. Minimize Physical Access Possibilities

Physical access to any of your devices may be the easiest way for someone to gain vital personal information. Don’t leave your computer up and running in public. Do not leave important applications open anywhere while you are absent. Protect access with a strong password. Although best practice with passwords is to not keep physical copies, in the real world, where you might have 50 passwords, this is often not practical. Keep password information in a secure spot.

10. Utilize a Virtual Private Network (VPN)

The VPN has become vital to maintain strong internet security. VPNs encrypt information and route your connection through a remote server. Your actual identity and location are masked by that server. VPNs also permit connection to sites that are geographically restricted or forbidden. They protect information when using public Wi-Fi. VPNs can be used to stream video such as Hulu or Netflix. VPNs permit download access without a digital footprint. Business users can log on to their business networks while traveling. One of the highest rated VPNs is Surfshark. Surfshark has more than 500 servers in all parts of the globe to facilitate strength and speed of connection. They were recently named a top VPN newcomer. Surfshark now offers annual plans with decreased cost and 24/7 support. Presently, a no risk trial is available. This is an excellent opportunity to secure a strong VPN network at an unusually low price.

12 Awesome Resources For Developers On App Marketing

Posted on by Nora Mork
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Developers often dislike marketers. The reasons for that are often quite simple – they had a bad previous experience where the marketer didn’t understand their product enough and oversold it. This only brings poor results and no one is happy.

However, this also comes from the fact that app developers don’t really understand marketing well enough. It has a different approach to the app – marketers are focused on users and what would work for them even though they might not always understand what it takes to make it happen.

This means that app developers, aware of what they can do, should try to learn the basics of marketing in order to market the app themselves or have a better relationship with their marketer. Here are some useful resources to begin with:

Gamasutra

″This resource covers game development and the business of making and marketing games in general. In various sections you can find many useful tips on app development, marketing and crowdfunding.

They have a lot of posts and the community posts often as well. Some of the most quality posts come from established game developers but there are also a lot of useful tips from amateurs that can help you with all elements of app development”, – says a content marketer at UK Writings and State of Writing, Sarah Gilles.

Relate – The Digital Mag For Marketers

This app used to be called Appboy but they rebranded and published a great resource for people looking for marketing tips on various elements like deep linking, retention and much more.

People with experience share posts here and they share their personal tips an stories which is great.

Apptweak Blog

This blog is set on publishing fun, thorough and entertaining content on marketing and promotion. Here, you can learn everything you need to know about ASO, beta testing and much more.

Mobile Marketer Blog

This is always a great read because they often do case studies and conduct various research experiments to bring you the best conclusions and information they can. They serve a large market of big companies but also small businesses just starting out as well.

You’ll be able to find a lot of great data here.

The App Guy Podcast

″This is a fun podcast which offers a lot of useful information on all aspects of app marketing. There are a lot of episodes and you can hear from app entrepreneurs, startup founders and so on. People really love it and have found it useful in the past”, – says Tina Gruber, an app marketer from Simple Grad and Academized.

App Savvy – Ken Yarmosh

App Savvy is an amazing book dedicated to all app marketers out there. Ken really dedicates his time to elaborate the subject and bring it closer to the reader. This book may be a bit old but its still timeless.

Touch Arcade

This is a forum dedicated to game developers and helping them solve their issues. Here, a lot of experienced people and amateurs alike post their tips and advice in order to help others create a better marketing campaign for their apps.

Tune Blog

This blog is publishing great content from industry experts on several areas, making it one of the most helpful blogs out there for app developers.

Appentive Blog

Appentive makes a point out of creating valuable pieces for their readers. “They cover a wide range of topics but you will most likely be able to find anything you need on this blog” comments April Cordero, a tech writer at Let’s go and learn and Student Writing Services.

Fiksu Webinars

These webinars can help you learn amazing things about app marketing and it’s especially good because you can ask questions at the end of the webinar and get all of that extra information that you need.

iPhoneDevSDK

This is an amazing blog and a great place to exchange some information and tips between independent developers. There are interesting debates and insights from time to time.

Arkenea

This is a mobile app development company that offers a blog on app development and design, app marketing and so on. There are also interviews with successful people from the app and startup industries.

Find The Best Way To Market Your App

Marketing can be difficult and seem terrifying but it becomes much easier once you learn how to do it properly. Who better to market your app than yourself? You know what you can do and what is possible, so learn the basics and dive a bit deeper into the specifics. Hopefully, these resources can help.

Improving User Attentiveness Using Just Six Mobile Content Tips

Posted on by Freddie Tubbs
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These days, a mobile phone has literally become a device possessed by everyone. When it comes to creating mobile content that is top-notch, one essential skill required remains copywriting. Most online content created are usually aimed at being easily accessed on mobile. However in spite of this, there are certain other factors that have to be considered in ensuring that these content can get the viewer’s attention and pique his interest. Doing this would require taking certain measures.

1. Use Less Images and More Text

On the average, humans are attracted to images rather than written texts. This is due to the fact that images can easily be looked at and understood without requiring further study of any kind. Therefore, the use of images should be limited except that is all you require to pass your message.

Removing or limiting the number of images you use when publishing your content ensures that mobile viewers actually read the content. When reading blog posts, press releases or web contents on mobile devices, users would easily get distracted when they see an image and would tend to focus and spend more time on the image.

Therefore, if images are not entirely necessary to use with your content, then do not use them.

2. Create an Eye-Catching Intro

Since mobile users can easily swipe away anything that disinterests them, one way to ensure that your content is read is by starting with something that would catch their attention and captivate them. Once you have gotten their attention with your introduction, you can be pretty sure that they would read through.

“Bringing your best points or details forward to the beginning of your content ensures that after their attention is captured, they subsequently continue to read through till the end. Making your intro something lacklustre would effectively drive the user’s attention elsewhere and they would end up not reading your content,” says William Lefevre, a Content manager at Stateofwriting and Eliteassignmenthelp.

Therefore, an effective way to capture user attention is the use of powerful and impactful intros.

3. Use Only Necessary Words

When creating mobile content, one very effective way of making users lose interest is the use of unnecessary words. The use of complicated words and sentences in places where simpler statements could be used is downright unnecessary. The use of mobile keywords should be your paramount interest and goal.

Whatever message you intend on passing across should be done using relevant facts before users lose interest and swipe away. The faster you get to the point, the higher the likelihood that your mobile user has gotten the message you are passing across.

The only way you can achieve this is by ensuring that you do not include irrelevant information before they get to read the actual content.

4. Create Easy-to-read and Friendly Content

Keeping in mind that you are creating content for mobile, you should ensure it can be easily understood. To create very explicit and easily understandable content, use these tools:

– Via writing and Academ advisor are some guides which would assist you in creating user-friendly content.

– Academized is a content editing tool endorsed by Australianreviewer that helps remove unnecessary stuff in your content.

– Study demic and Writing populist are online tools that help you proofread and eliminate errors.

– Paper fellows and Australian help are content formatting tools that assist you in getting your content into the best format.

– Mywritingway is an online grammar checking tool that ensures your words and sentences do not have grammatical errors.

– Bigassignments and Oxessays help you generate captivating titles and subheadings among others for your content.

5. Ensure Availability of Your Content

To guarantee that your content is having the type of impact you want, you need to ensure that it is easily accessible by a wide range of mobile users. This implies that you have got to place your content on strategic websites and pages that are visited by a very wide range of mobile users.

Since just about everybody makes use of a mobile device, you should make deliberate efforts to ensure that nobody is exempted from seeing your content. This is a step you can take by placing your content on virtually every channel and device they make use of until their attention is drawn to it.

Exemption of any channel implies a number of people who do not have access to your content.

6. Use Concise and Captivating Headlines

The heading of any article or write-up goes a very long way in determining whether or not readers would end up reading the content. A dreary or lifeless headline would effectively kill the morale of mobile users so much that they would not have any interest in determining the contents of this article.

The use of an attention-drawing heading makes mobile users very interested in wanting to determine what the remaining part of the content has to say before they swipe away. When mobile users see a captivating headline, they are encouraged to go beyond just the headline and end up reading your content. Also, in creating the headline of the content, you have to ensure that it is something a wide range of mobile viewers would be interested in.

Basically, these are some tips that would help you capture mobile user attentiveness. Using these tips, you can effectively engage reader attention while ensuring that their attention actually lasts long enough to get your message.

An Ode to Ecco Pro

Posted on by Wayland Bruns
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As we begin the rollout of DejaOffice PC CRM, some of the pioneers of small business Contact managers are on my mind.

A caller this week mentioned Ecco Pro, which was a very popular program back in the mid 1990s.

Ecco Pro as I recall was built on a foundation of an outline manager. Originally it was only an outliner. As it grew, there was a Contacts, Calendar, Task and Notes application. Originally published by Arabesque software, the company got purchased by NetManage in Seattle.

I don’t recall that it was very expensive at the time. Maybe $99 or $59 or something like that. I never used it. At the time we were working primarily with TeleMagic (DOS) and GoldMine (DOS). Both TeleMagic and GoldMine used dBase II format files, an so it was easy to make add-on products. Ecco had a proprietary file format.

By 1997 Ecco Pro had about a million users. Inexplicably, NetManage closed down the entire program. There were rumors for years that someone would buy it, but no on ever did. Ecco died a corporate death; sold to a company that did not know what they had.

Douglas P. Rice has a great writeup about being hired by NetManage just before the big fccollapse.  We don’t often think about how software was sold before the internet was commonly used, and it’s funny to read that they did not ship product updates online.

More resources:

James Kendrick – Memory Lane – Ecco Pro

Wikipedia – Ecco Pro

EccoMAGIC – EccoMagic Forums

A decade after Ecco went off the market, the Ecco User’s Group approached CompanionLink to write a sync to Phones at that time (BlackBerry, Pocket PC).  I was staunchly against it. First, there is no API. Second, the user base could not grow; only shrink. The CompanionLink Meme is to provide free telephone technical support to our customers. Some call this foolish, but I feel that many people need the help from time to time. But I don’t want to get caught getting unlimited phone calls for an unsupported product.

For those that wanted Ecco Pro to be a Contact Manager, we finally have a new product for you. DejaOffice PC CRM Standalone will handle Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Notes, and synchronize them easily to Android and iPhone. At $49.95 we hope it can be a worthy successor to this industry pioneer.

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Google Sync for Outlook – Competitive Upgrade for Batch Endpoint Move March 2019

Posted on by Wayland Bruns
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A year ago, Google announced a change to their Batch Endpoint URL  Batch enpoints are used by any application that wants to update a number of records in a Google API.  One can hardly have an efficient Google Sync if you do not use the batch endpoints.

The announcement states that the old endpoints will cease working on March 25, 2019.

Free update for CompanionLink Customers:  CompanionLink Customers with software purchased after January 1, 2014 (a five year period) will get a free update for their software.  Purchases from 2014 through 2016 can update CompanionLink 7.  Purchases from 2016 through 2018 are current with CompanionLink 8.  Please download your update from our updates page.

$29.95 update for customers using Competing Products:  CompanionLink extends our upgrade pricing to competitive products.  Upgrade to CompanionLink 8 like you are one of our family.  The upgrade price for CompanionLink for Google is $39.95 and we offer a $10 discount.  Click here to purchase it for $29.95.  You can also purchase CompanionLink for Outlook for the same price, which offers direct support for sync from Outlook to Android/iPhone using USB, Wi-Fi or DejaCloud sync.